Jakarta Casual

An off beat look at Indonesian and South East Asian football from the terraces or the pub

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Posting Drought

Apologies for the lack of activity here recently. I 8 to offer any real excuse but it is Leberan here and everyone has gone home. Certainly everyone in our home has gone home and i am left doing a Wenger...trying to clean up the shit I have been left with after losing maid and nanny!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Vietnam's Mini Tourneys

Following football in Vietnam is so confusing. Putting aside the fact that 83.982% of the players are called Nguyen they have all these pre season competitions which are nigh on impossible to keep track of.

According to Viet Football, who is able to keep track of these things, the following have been organised including one featuring an Indonesian team!

Young Tigers Signed By European Team

Malaysia's Olympic Games Qualifying campaign received a further boost when it was announced three of their young players had signed a two month loan deal with Slovakian side FC Vion Zlate Moravce.

Fadhli Shas, Zack Haikul and Irfan Faizal are part of the Malaysian team that have been based in Slovakia the last few months and obviously FC Vion, who are 3rd in the Slovakian league, liked what they saw and signed the three on a short term deal.

November sees the start of the Olympic Qualifiers and Malaysia have been drawn against Japan, Syria and Bahrain

Friday, August 26, 2011

Vietnam Fans Staying Away

I think it was 2009 when people in the region were suggesting that Vietnam would be the best league in the region, whatever that means. Certainly in that particular year the average attendance in the VLeague was just over 10,500, a bit below the Indonesian Super League.

For the just finished 2011 season average attendances are down by a startling 30 odd % with just 7,395 going per game.

Hai Phong remain the most popular team at the gate but they too have seen crowds fall. In 2009 they averaged just over 24,000. In 2011? 17,154.

Anyone got any idea why the crowds there should have fallen so dramatically?

Stewart Linked With Causeway Switch

I understand Gombak United coach Darren Stewart is being linked with a move to Johor ahead of next season's Malaysia Premier League.

Aussie Stewart is in his third season with The Bulls and many felt the team would have won some silverware in 2010 had the fates not conspired against them so cruelly.

If he does get appointed coach them it would be his third spell with the Malaysian side. He had two spells with the club as a player in the 1990s, winning the Malaysia Cup in 1998, beating the late, great David Rocastle's team in the final.

One More Year For Bambang

There had been talk that this would finally be the year that iconic Indonesian striker Bambang Pamungkas would leave Persija. Instead a new club leader has convinced the international to stay another year and along with fellow long serving Ismed Sofyan will wear the orange of Persija in the upcoming season.

Other players who are reported to be signing on for another year are Greg Nwokolo, Leo Saputra and Ramdhani Lestaluhu.

The club have signed Johan Juansyah and he recently scored for the Under 23s in a friendly against Makassar United.

One player not retained is the popular striker Aliyudin and one rumour has suggested he may return to former club Persikota though that remains to be seen.

The other foreigners at the club, including Oliver Mako and Precious Emuerjeraye have also been allowed to leave as has veteran keeper Hendro Kartiko and midfielder Syamsul Chaeruddin

Over Land & Sea. And Kunming.

Many were saying last December that Singapore football was in terminal decline. The perceived wisdom among the wizened old hacks and the keyboard warriors who impotently vomit their self loathing on anonymous message boards was that following the failure to win the ASEAN Football Federation Cup, as if the Lions have the right to win it every time, and following a humiliating domestic season that saw all three trophies won by foreign teams, the game was dead, better everyone just spend their money buying replica shirts of EPL teams.

The problem with that reasoning was that it just weren't true. The national team had spent a longtime together and it was time for new faces. But anyone who had actually been to an SLeague would have told you that the excitement on the field wasn't being passed on to the public.

But there was a sea change occurring. Not in the glare of publicity or from the vision of some PR outfit charging mega bucks by the hour. This sea change was taking place where all sea changes take place. Be it hip hop, punk rock or Abba revival bands any meaningful cultural shift happens on the street and that was what was happening in Singapore.

Some fans, pissed off at the lack of initiative shown by them who were supposed to run the game and by media treating the game as a piss take, decided to do something about it. Decided that a strategic plan big on MBA terminology but low on nuts and bolts was never gonna be enough to change the say people looked at football in their own back yard.

So they kicked up a racket. On the terraces. They decided what Singapore had in football terms was something Singaporeans should be proud of. Stick your Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard where the sun don't shine, they wanted to be proud of Harris, Shahril and Fazrul.

Mindsets are as difficult to change as bandwagons are easy to follow. Unfortunately there is no bandwagon yet in Singapore football but there are a few pioneers seeking to raise the tempo for the Lions something like 30 of them will be travelling to Kunming next week to see their boys take on China in their opening World Cup Qualifier.

No matter the result, they were there and they were doing their bit for their team and country. Which is more than can be said for the keyboard tossers wasting cyberspace with their turgid negativity.

New Indonesian League Taking Shape?

It is only the opening gambit in Indonesian football's latest new dawn but at a press conference earlier this evening the new look PSSI announced that top flight football would comprise of two divisions of 16 clubs each while the second tier would have four divisions of 12 teams each.

Indonesia can't seem to decide whether it wants to have a single top flight featuring the 18 best teams which makes sense from a purely footballing point of view or a twin division which would feature more dead wood than a lumberjack camp but allows clubs to spend less on travel costs as it would be divided regionally.

The AFC apparently demand a single division, hence the Indonesia Super League which was introduced in 2008/2009 and the PSSI will put their proposal to the body early next month to see if they have changed their minds.

This is a possible break down but don't read too much into it. Persik appear in both lists while Persita are in the second tier and Persikota in the top tier which doesn't make immediate sense;

One Persebaya Team Have New Coach

Just to recap. There are two Persebayas! Persebaya who played in the Divisi Utama and Persebaya 1927 who played in the short lived Liga Primer Indonesia. The latter have appointed former Persijap & Minangkabau coach Divaldo Alves to replace Aji Santoso who will work with the Indonesia Under 23 team ahead of the SEA Games.

Persebaya 1927 also suggest they are interested in signing former England international Lee Hendrie from Bandung. Hendrie's current club are said to be merging with Persiba so their future remains unclear.

Blankety Blank

SINGAPORE, 25 August 2011: Thailand and Singapore played out a goalless draw in an International Friendly on 24 August 2011 at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

It was an important match for both nations as they prepare to take on Australia and China respectively on the 2nd of September 2011, in the Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers.

Singapore started the brighter of the two with Captain Shahril Ishak, Qiu Li and Shaiful Esah linking up play down the left on numerous occasions.

It took the Lions until the 11th minute to seemingly fine a loophole in the Thai defence, when Qiu Li found an unmarked Shahril down the left flank only to see his delivery cleared by the Thai backline.

The home side were pressing Qiu Li high up the pitch and a few mistimed tackles saw the Home United forward flat on the ground, grovelling in pain

As the half wore on, the Thais started coming into the game with captain Datsakorn Thonglao and Surat Sukha stringing the passes in the middle of the park.

The Thais had a good opportunity with 24 minutes on the clock when Datsakorn looked up and sent a cheeky lob that seemed destined for the top left corner until Izwan Mahbud leapt into the air and claimed it with authority.

Two minutes later, the Thais put together their best move of the game when Apipoo Suntornpanavej dinked a long ball into the path of Sompong Soleb down the right who sent a teasing grounder into the box, only to see an oncoming Surat blaze the ball over the bar.

The second half started with both sides making a string of substitutions with Shahdan Sulaiman, Shukor Zailan and Lionel Lewis coming on for Qiu Li, Mustafic Fahrudin and Izwan Mahbud respectively.

Coach Avramovic was left fuming when a dubious offside call by the linesman left Shahril Ishak seething, after Shi Jia Yi played a brilliant ball to put Aleksandar Duric through before he squared it to an unmarked Shahril who drilled it into the net with much aplomb.

On 70 minutes, the newest member of the squad, Hafiz Rahim came on for Jia Yi and immediately showcased his fine dribbling skills on numerous occasions to trouble Thai backline which had to give away two yellow cards for late tackles on the nippy Geylang United winger.

As the match moved towards the final ten minutes, the partisan crowd at the Rajamangala National Stadium were treated to some exciting end-to-end stuff as Isa Halim and Ruzaini Zainal played a neat one-two before releasing Hafiz who sent a thunderbolt towards goal, only to see the Thai goalie, Sintaweechai Hathairattanakool palm the ball away for a corner-kick.

Lionel Lewis who managed to go through the entire second-half with no complications on his recent groin injury was called into action when he made two wonderful saves to deny the home side a last gasp winner.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, coach Avramovic said: “This is not the first time Thailand and Singapore played each other and both countries know each other well. I believe that this game is important for both of us as we prepare for the China game while the Thais will play Australia in the World Cup Qualifiers.

“It was an exciting and competitive game where both teams had chances. In the first half, we had more opportunities but they had chances in the second-half as well.

“It will be a difficult game against China as they have some quality players but we will go to Kunming and do our best and play our own game.”

Stopper Lionel Lewis also stepped in to assess his groin injury when he exclaimed: “I would first like to thank coach for giving me a good 45 minutes to play and test myself. I feel that I’m still not 100% but I’m getting there. I didn’t attempt to take any goal-kicks as we decided not to take the risk with a couple more days before the China game. As for the two saves towards the end of the game, it was part and parcel of the game and I definitely will continue to work towards full fitness when we reach Kunming.”

Hafiz Rahim, whose second-half appearance was his first-ever international match was equally delighted to be given a run-out by coach Avramovic when he said: “I wasn’t nervous when my name was called up to prepare to get on the pitch. I just wanted to go out there and do what I can and test myself against the Thai defenders. It was great to be given an opportunity to represent Singapore.”

The Lions will now move on to the next phase of their trip for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifier against China PR when they travel up to Kunming on 26 September to continue with their preparations.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Malang Team Goes Amateur

In the last season just finished or half finished, god Indonesian football can be hard to put in a nutshell at times, the pleasant city of Malang boasted three football clubs. Arema in the top flight Indonesia Super League, Persema in that upstart Liga Primer Indonesia and Persekam in the second tier of the official stuff.

Anyway it looks like Persekam don't want to be part of the Indonesian football's latest new dawn and they will become an amateur side.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Jakarta Casual Weekly 22/08

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Singapore International To Join Deltras?

I love the way how what would in England be sensational stories here become a throwaway comment in another much less interesting story.

Deltras of course have a new coach. Jorg Steinbrunner from Germany. This run of the mill story says that Deltras, nicknamed The Lobster (singular), are holding trials and a couple of doezen players have joined up.

The article mentions the signings Deltras have already made plus another couple of locals they maybe interested. Then, right towards the end, the club manager, not the 24 year old girl from last season, the manager suggests that Singapore international striker Noh Alam Shah would be joining the club!

In the news hungry English media where every nuance and utterance is forensically covered with the proverbial fine tooth comb this story would halt the presses. NAS is a big name, one of the biggest in South East Asia. That he is being linked with a move away from Arema, one of the biggest clubs in Indonesia, to nearby Deltras surely is worth more than just a couple of lines in another story?

Anyway I have tried confirming the story but no luck yet. We shall wait and see!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Hougang Pushed All The Way

Holding a 3-0 lead going into the 2nd leg of their Singapore Cup Quarter Final against Myanmar side Okkthar United, Hougang United were made to fight all the way as the Myanmar team gave them a scare or two. Fortunately for the daftly nicknamed Cheetahs, Jordan Webb's goal right on half time gave them some breathing space but their 3-1 loss was enough to see them into the semis where they join Albirex Niigata, who defeated them in the League Cup Final, and Home United.

Tonight sees Etoile and Gombak United play their 2nd leg with the Frenchies holding a slender 1-0 lead.

Former Persijap Defender Gets Thai Call Up

Phaitoon Thiabma, who enjoyed a couple of spells with Persijap in the Indonesia Super League, has been called up by new Thai coach Winnie Schaefer ahead of their opening World Cup Qualifiers.

Missing from the squad is the Thai Premier League's Sarayut Chaikamdee. I watched Thailand during last years AFF Cup and often felt their game lacked its normal fluidity by having the relativley static Sarayut as a target man.

Good to see Sompong Soleb, another former Thai Port striker, called up.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Possible Mergers

This comes from a local tabloid...my language skills aren't good enough to tell whether they are confirmed or just negotiations or rumours. The presence of a company name in the original, not replicated here, suggests they are more than confirmed but I await others before coming down either way.

A couple of geographically interesting ones!

Persiraja & Aceh United - makes sense, both from Banda Aceh

PSMS & Bintang Medan - makes sense, both from Medan and PSMS have the brand recognition

Pro Titan & Medan Chiefs - makes sense, both have same owner

Persik & Minangkabau - East Java and West Sumatra? To be fair the city of Padang, home to Minangkabau, probably couldn't afford two teams

Familiar Faces Follow Jorg

Now safely ensconsed in the Deltras hot seat, new coach Jorg Steinbrunner, formerly of Woodlands Wellington, Sengkang Punggol, Etoile and Medan Chiefs, is wasting no time bringing in a couple of familiar faces.

Former Woodlands and Medan Chiefs Abdelhadi Laakkad is a Moroccan striker who scores goals, as opposed to Chamakh who is a Moroccan striker who gets pushed off the ball way too easily. Laakkad previously played with Jorg at Woodlands and Medan.

Another familiar face is Kevin Yann. The young French man first made an impression in last years Etoile team that won the SLeague and followed his German coach to Medan earlier this year.

Challenging The Perceived Wisdom In Singapore

It’s been a while since I’ve had a good wholesome rant about football in Singapore. I find it very therapeutic to lash out once in a while from the anonymity of a keyboard and decry the faults so evident in others while I am never called to task on my opines!

Personally speaking I find Singapore football to be exciting. In fact the SLeague is the most exciting league in south east Asia. No ifs, buts or maybes.

Take a look at this current season where perhaps three or four teams are serious title contenders. But look at the intriguing sub plots lower down the ladder. The resurgence of Hougang United, Geylang’s fine unbeaten ru, Etoile’s bounce back from the five point deduction, Balestier’s switch from cellar dweller to mid table, Tanjong Pagar’s youth and ability to give the big boys a run for their money.

And there’s more. Hougang fans attempting to create an atmosphere at SLeague games, young players making an impression on the national team, Harris’ growing maturity, Home United’s fine form, Jordan Webb making an impression, Fazrul Nawaz netting consistently.

I could go on but that will do for now.

The head of the Football Association of Singapore has decided that next season they will do more about attracting fans to games and he has set up a committee to find ways of doing this. I have no idea who is on this committee, I imagine a bunch of time servers and the usual faces who have their boats in the papers but I tell you who should be on any gob fest looking to revitalize Singapore football.

The lads behind Lions All The Way who have taken to following the Lions and giving them a bit of a cheer. United 4 United, a group of lads who have taken to following Hougang United and are trying to have a bit of a laugh at home and away games. The lads behind Bola Sepak and Liga Singapura plus the other bloggers who write at great length about a game all but ignored by the national media,

I guess though the panel will be stuffed with people who are called stake holders, a term which worries me. I guess it includes sponsors and let’s face it don’t they do a great job of both promoting the league and their products? There is a beer sponsor yet you can’t buy beer! One sponsor delights in giving away free ice cream! Hands up if free ice cream has ever enticed you to a football match? Seriously, until now they have contributed little, what makes us think they can do so in the future?

One suggestion to bring back the fans is to improve the quality of football as if all it takes is Harry Potter waving a wand! The football ain’t that bad and yes, there are dull games just as there are dull games in the English Premier League involving Singaporean’s favourite football teams, Liverpool and Manchester United. Hell, maybe even Barcelona have been involved in crap games.

Did you know the population of Tampines is reckoned to be 216,000? Bigger than the combined populations of Blackburn and Wigan in England! Two of the smaller teams in England yet Blackburn attract over 20,000 every home game while maybe 15,000. Tampines Rovers? In the low hundreds!

You could say the same about Jurong, which doesn’t even have a team anymore, Geylang and Woodlands. Why are crowds so risible? What have the FA done about correcting the slide to anonymity? What have the clubs done to get out in the community? How do week day evening kick offs encourage kids to attend football matches?

Attracting more people to football matches in Singapore is’t easy and I don’t mean to imply it is. It involves changing the mindset of the whole population who despite their flag waving on 9th August still feel the pull of the old colonial power. Everything foreign, goes their logic, is good while everything local is crap. Except the government of course who are brilliant!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Kenji Arrival Signals Amri's Exit

Persiba Balikpapan have signed Japanese striker Kenji Adichihara from Bontang. Kenji spent two years with the team about six hours up the road from Balikpapan and netted 30 goals in his time there despite the team struggling most of that time.

He will renew his productive strike partnership with Paraguayan striker Aldo Baretto who made the same journey last year and has decided to stay with the Honey Bears for one more season.

Kenji, who also played for Albirex Niigata in the SLeague, will replace Singaporean striker Khairul Amri whose season with Persiba was marred by injury. Just like his time with Tampines Rovers was marred by injury. Just like his time with Young Lions was marred by injury.

In fact given his unmistakable talent and his ability to spend long periods on the treatment table he would seem an ideal signing for Arsenal. And with him being forever injured they wouldn't even need a work permit!

Anyway, one Honey Bear tells me Amri may turn up next in Malaysia with Selangor! The season doesn't start there till January 2012, that should be long enough for him to recover, get injured and recover again!

Myanmar Fans Raise Roof

Over 2,500 fans filled the Hougang Stadium last night to see Hougang United take on Myanmar National League team Okkthar United, coached by Singaporean Sivaji.

Hougang, unfortunately nicknamed The Cheetahs, won 3-0 but it was the Myanmar fans who stole the show apparently by bringing a football style atmosphere to a game in Singapore.

3-0 is pretty bloody convincing, a damned sight more convincing than Arsenal's pissy 1-0 they take to Italy next week so it's far to say Hougang are on course for a second Cup semi final. They of course reached the League Cup Final before succumbing to Albirex Niigata on pens.

Hougang's turn around this season, sorry but I can't call a football team Cheetahs unless they come from continental Europe and speak with their hands a lot, has been one of the stories of the season in a truly thrilling season in Lion City.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Johor Tour Singapore

You could throw a rock from JB to Singapore. If you had a strong arm. And were standing in the middle of the causeway. And a large pigeon suddenly swooped down from the Malaysian side, plucked the stone from your hands and carried it over to Singapore before dropping it on the miserable buggers who stamp passports for a living.

I've said before there should be a Causeway Cup between Woodlands Wellington and Johor each year to develop a sense of rivalry between the neighbours.

Ain't happened yet but Johor, ahead of their Malaysia Cup campaign, are playing a couple of friendlies in Lion City.

16/08 Tanjong Pagar v Johor

19/08 Geylang United v Johor

Aren't Etoile still based in JB? Couldn't they play Johor at the Larkin Stadium as well?

The Malaysia Cup kicks off in September, after the holiday following the fasting month, and Johor have been drawn against Kedah, Perak and Sabah. They host Kedah in the first game on 6 September.

India's Growing Appeal

Former Rangers striker Alan Gow has joined East Bengal in the Indian I League. East Bengal play in the city of Kolkata and their rivalry with city neighbours Mohun Bagun may well have the Scotsman recalling the Old Firm derbies he grew up with.

It may also be of interest that East Bengal are sponsored by a brewery!

Lopes Moves To The Beach

Cristian Lopes has signed for Sri Racha. Yeah, I know, a little late.

The Brazilian striker has spent a number of years in Indonesia, most latterly with Deltras. My abiding memory of him though comes from his Pelita Jaya days when he fell to the ground like he had been poleaxed right in front of the travelling Persija fans.

It was as obvious as Buriram PEA winning the league. We knew it, he knew it. The fans knew it. The ref of course didn't know it and sent off a Persija player, I think it was Hamkah Hamza. Anyway Persija fans responded by booing and jumping up and down, yelling abuse.

Home fans in the main stand stand throwing stuff at the Persija fans and soon it was on. The festivities carried on into the car park where many windows were trashed meaning plenty of air conditioning on the drive home.

Anyway Lopes' antics left a sour taste in the mouth and I have had no respect for him since.

The Jakarta Casual Weekly

A look back at the football in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand highlighting who's doing what, where, when and how. More than just a pod the Jakarta Casual Weekly aims to be a weekly You Tube offering bringing together images and audio in one bite sized package.

And don't worry. It doesn't feature me sat on a sofa surrounded by football scarves. Yet!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Alberts To Return To Indonesia?

The season before last Dutch coach Robert Alberts led Arema to the Indonesia Super League title. He then left to coach Sarawak but now Persija are keen to bring the vastly experienced coach back as they seek to end their trophy less run stretching back almost a decade.

Sime Darby Continue Interest In Indonesian Players

Malaysia will start allowing foreign players back in their league next season and the privately owned Sime Darby, no relation to Steve, have been busy looking at players in Indonesia. I reported a few days ago they were interested in Boas Solossa. Now it's the turn of Ahmad Bustomi, an early contender for the Jakarta Casual Player of the Year following consistent performances for club and country over the year.

Thing is I don't think Sime Darby have the biggest support in Malaysia. Why would Bustomi leave this behind for empty terraces? He would need a pretty decent wedge to make up for the empty terraces!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Now Pesija Seek New Coach

With Rahmad Darmawan signing a 2 year deal to coach the national Under 23s Persija are left looking for a coach. They have been quoted as saying they want a foreign coach as there is no local better than Darmawan.

Expectations are high at the Jakarta based club despite not having won a trophy for a decade and any new coach can expect the seat to be very bloody hot indeed.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Fachry Husaini

I've long been intrigued be this geezer. Why? Because in a country where loyalty in football is as rare as an exciting sinetron this man has been coach of Bontang since 2008. It's not as if he has won anything 'cos he hasn't. Indeed the team would have finished 18th last season had all teams that started in the ISL ended in it.

As it happened Bontang finished 15th. Still way clear at the bottom. But there didn't seem to be much of an outcry way up in East Kalimantan for him to be ousted.

Fascinating place, Bontang. Never been there of course but the city is part of the true Indonesian football experience. It's a hilly six hour drive from the nearest airport in Balikpapan! I met a woman a while back, she was in Jakarta 'cos her old man had toothache and they lived in Bontang! The drive to the airport wasn't fun!

As well as coaching Bontang for three years Husaini spent the best part of a decade playing for them and a couple of spells as assistant coach.

Persisam Want Roekito

Apparently Persisam are interested in recruiting Daniel Roekito as their new coach. And if they do sign him they are hopeful Christian Gonzales and Herman Abanda will follow him from Persib where Roekito spent half of last season.

Roekito is no stranger to East Kalimantan having coached Persiba Balikpapan previously. He also led Persik to the Liga Indonesia title back in 2006 with an attacking side featuring Gonzales up front.